Generally speaking, methanol steam reforming is the chemical process of converting methanol to hydrogen and carbon oxides. The methanol steam reforming chemical process can be facilitated by using a catalyst. The hydrogen generated by the chemical process can be used in many applications. One such application of hydrogen generated by steam reforming is use in fuel cells.
Fuel cells are power generation devices that create electricity by stripping electrons from hydrogen. The hydrogen may be derived from hydrogen-rich fuels such as hydrocarbons and alcohols. Various different types of fuel cells exist. Examples include proton exchange membrane fuel cells, phosphoric acid fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells, direct methanol fuel cells, and alkaline fuel cells. A common operational feature to fuel cells is that they function by removing electrons from hydrogen atoms for the purpose of generating electricity. The remaining hydrogen protons combine with electrons and oxygen to produce water.
In order to operate most fuel cells, catalysts are employed to facilitate the generation of hydrogen. Generally speaking, catalysts often have certain desirable characteristics. Unfortunately, a catalyst may have one desirable characteristic but another undesirable characteristic. Given the unpredictable nature of catalysts in general, it is difficult to obtain fuel cell catalysts with many desirable characteristics and few or no undesirable characteristics.